Many specific application vehicles, including fire trucks and emergency vehicles, are custom designed, manufactured and assembled with a high degree of precision and durability to withstand harsh operating conditions such as intense heat and moisture. As a result, most of the vehicles are comprised of low-corrosive stainless, aluminum or galvanealed steel panel sections welded or fitted together after fabrication, and then painted.
In the prior art, various specially configured panels together forming the body of a vehicle are first fabricated and then welded or fitted to determine whether the panels, in fact, have been properly configured in accord with the design specification or plan. Once the panels are fitted (i.e., welded) in their entirety to form the vehicle body, modifications, slight changes or adjustments can be made prior to paint application and final assembly. When in final form, the body panels are then separated (i.e., disassembled) for painting. This includes the manufacture and specification of storage binds, doors and other application-specific requirements of emergency vehicles such as fire trucks. Accordingly, the partially assembled vehicle is, in effect, disassembled for painting and then must be reassembled and trim added once the final process is completed. For example, in the case of a fire truck or rescue vehicle, certain body portions must be painted red, white or yellow, while other portions are trimmed in chrome or with other materials.
Accordingly, the manufacturing, assembly, disassembly, painting and reassembly process is extremely time-consuming and labor intensive. The same problem occurs if repairs must be done to certain body sections damaged during operation (i.e., a new section must be specially configured, mounted for fit and then disassembled for painting before reassembly).
The assembly of production model vehicles (i.e., not custom vehicles) also suffers from a similar problem relating to painting or coloring of the panels. In particular, since the panels are made of stainless steel, aluminum or galvanealed steel, the painting process is extremely difficult, time-consuming and prone to error. The hardness and other properties of these materials make it very difficult to prepare the surface for high precision painting and even a minor error in surface preparation can result in unevenness, peeling and rapid wear. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a method for coloring the body panels of such vehicles without painting, if possible.
With the advent of various non-corrosive plastics and other materials such as thermo-plastics or thermo-set plastics, it is now possible to configure vehicle body panel portions of these materials for use with stainless, aluminum or galvanealed steel. These advanced materials are also resistant to temperature and are easily adaptable to uses involving extreme heat, moisture and harsh environments. Moreover, these materials are also amenable to coloring through either the extrusion process or a simple painting process as part of their manufacture. The physical characteristics of these materials are extremely predictable, and it is possible to accurately assess expansion as a function of heat, temperature resistance, melting points, etc. As well, it is now possible to effectively use these materials in the manufacture and configuration of vehicle body panels and to overcome the disassembly and paint application problem identified in the prior art and, as of yet, unresolved.
The present invention contemplates the use of vehicle body panels configured from thermo-plastics or thermo-set plastics adapted to be retrofit or interfaced with the stainless steel, aluminum or galvanealed steel body panels of an emergency vehicle, fire truck or other vehicle. The thermo-plastic or thermo-set plastic panels are adapted to be held in place by fasteners, including a channel formed by a flange or by chrome or other trim normally used in the assembly of the vehicle. The panels are colored ahead of time and, once the vehicle body is assembled in a proper fit, the panels are interposed over the body panels and affixed into place using the fastening means such as the channel and flange or trim. As well, in the case of production vehicles, the panels are affixed at the time of assembly and without the need for painting the underlying body panels.
Accordingly, it is not necessary to disassemble the body for painting, and both assembly and repair time are substantially diminished without an effect on the integrity of the vehicle as a whole.